1. Field of the Invention
The present inventive subject matter relates to a soccer training device, a soccer training system and a method of use.
2. Background
Mastering the game of soccer requires the mastery of one's own body and eye coordination. It is a contact sport where a player's entire body must be intuitively responsive to the ball on the field at any particular time or location. The player's muscles must react reflexively to the field and all things within as though they are extensions of his own body. Professional soccer players spend tremendous amounts of time conditioning their bodies to achieve a level of muscle memory and intuition that makes their movement on the field second nature and fluid. While actual practice is the only way a player can improve his or her skill, the quality and amount of practice determines the rate of actual improvement. In order for any individual to propel themselves to the next level of skill in the game of soccer, they must dedicate sufficient time on the field and off the field to constant muscle training. Soccer being a high contact sport requires equipment and training techniques that simulate a multi-player environment that provides constant dynamic contact.
Mastery of the game requires repetitive training to develop speed and control over the ball and the player's ever changing environment. Improvement of skill requires exposure to new complex variables and the opportunity to practice controlling and overcoming such variables. Variables in the game may be any element in the environment that changes the position of the ball, the player or the team's advantage. Variables may become more complex as more players are involved in a particular game. They may still be complex between fewer players if the skill level of each player enables them to each possess greater control over the ball. It is the aspiration of any soccer player to develop advanced level of skill such that the individual can act and strategize offensively or defensively to capture and maintain control over the ball in any fast paced scenario. To achieve this beyond a team training effort, through individual training, a player must be able to simulate realistic multi-player conditions to create the types of variable challenges encountered on the field during a fast paced game. For a player to develop his or her skills at professional quality level, the player must train and hone his or her skills to the true parameters of the game. High amounts of repetitious training in a simulated dynamic environment will enable any individual player to develop professional level precision, speed and agility that can be translated onto the field in any live match.
The ideal training device and system should be true to the parameters and dimensions of the game. Such parameters include but are not limited to the following: spatial limitations, area of control over the ball within the player's environment, high paced interaction between multiple players, dynamic changing environment from high speed movement of players on the field, intense competition between players to control the soccer ball, spatial spread of players on a field in the course of a game, necessary levels of accuracy in aim for passing and shooting the ball, standard positioning of soccer field components such as the goal posts or other players, quality and types of interaction between the player and different elements on the field (spinning the ball, passing the ball between players, etc.), material composition of equipment (rubber soles of shoes and the ball), visual effects from the field environment and components within (white or metallic soccer goals, green sod for outdoor soccer field, tan wooded floors of indoor soccer arena), etc. The ideal training device and system would manage and control the scope of variables so that the user can recreate and repeat training, or scale the variables down to focus on specific sets of variables. The device and system would evolve with the user by enabling the user to introduce new challenges or variables at various stages of improvement. All the while, such a device should remain useful and relevant to users of all skill level. The ideal device should enable an individual user to achieve high amounts of repetitious contact with the ball, achieve high speed multidirectional movement and tight ball control, train to the true parameters of the game, and develop multiple skills in tandem as would be expected from a multi-player training environment.
Current products in the market that offer individualized repetitive training fail to reflect real parameters and challenges experienced on the field specific to the sport of soccer. These products are easily outgrown due to their limited usefulness relative to the long term needs of aspiring soccer players. The following summarizes current soccer rebound devices designed primarily for kick training. Their deficiencies and limitations are inherent in their designs, offering limited practical use to serious trainers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,104 provides a training device with multiple functions on multiple sides. The problem is that each functional side interferes with the usefulness of the other feature during training. Further, the device is not constructed in a manner that when positioned on the ground with the board surface side facing forward, would maintain stability against frequent high impact contact with a soccer ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,189 is a rebound net assembly intended for softball or baseball pitch training. Not only are there too many parts to this device making it difficult to transport, but the net feature is not ideal for soccer training purposes since it cannot replicate a deflection similar in feel and quality to that of a professional soccer player. Further, the surrounding frame protrudes from the overall wall surface, creating interaction with the ball that is not otherwise experienced in reality. The device also lacks a self-stabilizing component that allows it to withstand the full impact of repeated impact of a high speed soccer ball.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005012125A1 provides a device with multiple paneled sides that requires assembly to be functional. The design of this device prevents it from being staked or anchored to the ground for added stability. The weight of water or sand filling its cavity is insufficient to stabilize the device against frequent high impact of a soccer ball by serious trainers. Further, the size and shape of the device does not reflect the natural coverage of an opposing player's silhouette. Thus accuracy and precision of the player would be disproportionately skewed to the disproportionate size of the device over time and use.
The device of U.S. Patent Application No. 20020022540 A1 takes up a great amount of space on the field with its multi-panel construction. This device is very one dimensional in that, despite the multi-panels involved and the ability to have multiple users train at once, players are restricted to using one panel at a time and cannot train interactively with other players.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,909,330 comprises a hollow base requiring filler, such as water or sand, to create stabilizing weight. As stated before, the design is inconvenient and unstable for the quality and amount of ball to wall impact sought to be achieved by serious trainers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,971 provides another rebound panel made of netting. A great deal of assembly is required and the device is not easily transportable. As with other netted devices, the frame surrounding the four sides of the device interferes with the ball's trajectory path and the interaction of the ball with the rebound surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,277 describes a kick ball game and apparatus kit that may be used indoor or outdoor, played similarly to soccer or hockey but does not require special skills from the players. This patent provides for an interesting method of arranging players of the game with predefined rules of operation. This patent is not intended as a soccer training method or apparatus and does not function as such.
A considerable need remains for inventive solutions that improve upon the quality of soccer training devices, methods and systems. All patents and applications referred herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein, is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.